Hirabai Barodekar - Raag Yaman, vilambit

Smt Hirabai Barodekar was one of the most important female vocalists of 20th century. Hirabai Barodekar was born as Chempakali into a musical family in 1905. Her mother was Tarabai Mane and father, the legendary Kirana master Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. Tarabai Mane was the daughter of Sardar Maruti Rao Mane, who was the brother of Rajmata of Baroda state. Abdul Karim Khan was the court musicians there and used to teach Tarabai Mane. When they decided to get married, both of them were ousted from the state along with Abdual Haq, the brother of Abdul Karim Khan. They had to come to Bombay where Tarabai Mane settled down. The couple had three daughters: Hirabai Barodekar (Chempakali), Kamalabai Barodekar (Gulab) and Sarswati Rane (Sakina or Chotutai) and two sons: Suresh Babu Mane (Abdul Rehman) and Papa (Abdual Hamid or Krishna Rao Mane). Hirabai Barodekar had her initial training from brother Suresh Babu Mane and doyen of Kirana Gharana Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, who was a cousin of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. In 1922 Tarabai left Abdul Karim Khan, thus, she got only limited guidance from Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. Hirabai had a very successful career. Her sweet and melodious voice was much appreciated. She was also an expert in Khayal, Thumri, Marathi Natyageet and Bhajan. She was the popular face of classical music and credited with having popularized classical music among the masses. She was even chosen to sing 'Vande Mataram' from the Red Fort on Independence Day, in 1947. She started the Nutan Sangeet Vidyalaya for teaching music to girls from respectable families and staged several plays through the platform of this school. She also acted in several films, Suvarna Mandir, Pratibha, Janabai and Municipality. She became a recording artist quite early in her career. As was the norm in those days, recording companies changed the name of the artist to make it more appealing. That is how Champakali became Hirabai Barodekar. The early 78 rpm recordings have been...